One Cool Cat

This is Morris, my tabby cat. He may have a regular name, but he is one of the most eccentric pets I've ever had. Have you ever looked your animal in the eyes and swear that they know what your thinking? I don't want to sound like a crazy cat lady, but I really do think that animals are in tune to what emotion their owner is going through at any given moment.

So his story began in a box with all of his brothers and sisters, that were abandoned on the side of a road somewhere far away. When the SPCA took him in at 8 weeks old, weighing only a pound, he had an upper respiratory infection, his paws were all infected and he had a large umbilical hernia...he wasn’t in the greatest shape.

Time went by, he was good as new and then he met Craig and I. We wanted a friend for our cat Ellie, who was 4 at the time, and needed a playmate when we weren’t home. She loves when there’s company. When we walked into the SPCA, we immediately saw Morris (who was named Chip at the time) and fell in love with him. As we approached the cage, his little paw poked through the metal bars to give us a swat. It was very apparent at that moment that he loved to play. After taking him out and holding him for a bit, we also found he loved to cuddle. Craig and I didn’t even bother to look at the other adorable kittens...we knew he belonged with us.

The rest is history. Morris is now 2 years old, and he serves not only as a friend for Ellie, but is our source of entertainment most nights. He loves to watch Sabres games (or should I say follows the puck as it slides across the ice) and is our alarm clock everyday, persistently licking our faces at 6:30 every morning because he is ready for breakfast. I guess we never have to worry about waking up late!

When you have pets in your life there’s always funny stories to share with others. Morris makes me smile everyday. He greets me when I come home with a meow, as he rolls back and forth on his back against the carpet, glaring up at me. Much like a version of a favorite stuffed animal a child clings to when they’re upset, Morris does that for me as an adult. He’s a good listener, and loves us unconditionally. Whether that has to do with us feeding him and petting him everyday or not, loyalty like that is hard to come by.

Social Media at Your Fingertips

I”ll be the first to admit that I am still learning the ins and outs of computer technology. I have a MySpace and a Facebook site. I have never tweeted on Twitter, but I’m sure that’s bound to happen at some point. When I need a laugh, I know I can instantly log on to YouTube and watch an old Seinfeld episode, without having to wait until later that night to catch a rerun on cable. For the past few years, I’ve been reading the news headlines online and throwing a hard-copy of the newspaper in a collective stack in a basket on my floor. I get to them eventually because no matter how modern our society is becoming, there’s nothing like the smell of ink and newsprint as you sit in your most comfortable chair, absorbing words.

The articles I have read the past few days on Web 2.0 were foreign to me. I actually had to read them twice. Once I got the terminology down, I thought I had a pretty good grasp as to what I was absorbing. Hopefully.

So here’s my take on Web 2.0 and how it effects us personally as well as a society:

1.) Blog your little heart out. Have a crazy neighbor like so many of us do? Share it in your blog, sit back and watch how many other users will comment on how they also share your pain. You may even get tips on how to handle them! Hosting a dinner party for the first time and freaking out about it? Vent on your blog, and watch how fast the hostess-with-the-mostess eases your tension. Chances are she’ll give you a great recipe. My point is, Web 2.0 applications make it possible for us to read one another’s blogs and let us reach out to people from all over for tips on surviving dinner parties.

2.) Information sensation! How many times a day do we use Google? Exactly. This application and all of its branches allow us to search for anything our hearts desire. It highly maximizes the content search aspect of Web 2.0 and makes everything very accessible to users. Just Google it!

3.) Collaboration and Convergence in the media. Backpack Journalists are on the rise and newspapers are cutting costs and employees. Society is participating in news and information more than ever because of Web 2.0 applications. Feedback on articles on newpaper sites are generating a voice and sometimes full out debates. Journalism and the way we get information is changing. Although there’s a debate as to whether we’re all Journalists now, one thing is for sure: Web 2.0 is having a major impact on the media industry.

4.) Isolation. This is the one aspect of Web 2.0 applications and computer technology in general that frightens me the most. There are many people out there who do nothing but sit on their computers night and day and do whatever it is they do. I’m not referring to those who make a living working with computers. It’s the constant need to be connected that sets these people apart from the real world. Social interaction and the skill set you learn just by having a face-to face conversation could be in danger due to internet addiction. While it’s important to embrace change and how far we’ve come to utilize the latest computer technology, it’s also imperative that we instill real-world, social interaction among the younger generations of users.

Overall, Web 2.0 has generated an entirely new approach to social media, using applications such as MySpace, Facebook and Google. Information is more accessible and social networking is rapidly expanding. These applications, as well as the change in societal communication has forced the media to take on new platforms to keep their heads above water. We’re living in a time where we and our communities can greatly benefit from the instant gratification of getting the information we want within seconds. However, we can’t allow ourselves to become zombies and become numb to the very real world that’s around us.